Friday, 24 August 2012

The From a Worcester Allotment blog has now relocated to its own server at http://www.worcesterallotment.co.uk.
There will be no new postings on this site, but it will remain live as an archive of our old posts, which have also been imported into our new site.
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Look forward to seeing you at our new web site.

Tuesday, 13 March 2012

Some good news for Worcester allotment holders, I hear from Dan Robb the Site Rep of Droitwich Rd, Allotment site that the council have come to their senses and dropped all charges for tunnels and sheds, something which he has fought vigorously against.

Well done Dan, we paid for 2 poly-tunnels this year and I was seriously thinking about taking them down altogether, and I know that others in Worcester were thinking the same way as well.

Friday, 9 March 2012

Genetically Modified Organisms have been in our food chain for about 20 years, but most people aren’t aware, or for that matter, don’t know, what GMO foods are. Foods that are genetically modified are created in a laboratory by splicing genes from one organism into another.

For instance, splicing a gene from a pesticide, namely BT toxin (bacillus thuringiensis), with corn gives the plant a built-in component to kill insects that would eat the corn. But what does that do to the person who eats the corn or food made from the corn?

The corporations that engineer these foods would like you to think they’re harmless. Studies to the contrary have recently been published showing traces of BT toxin in the bloodstream of 93 percent of pregnant women and 80 percent of their umbilical cord and fetal blood.

Friday, 5 November 2010

A member of the Onion family, Welsh onion are well worth cultivating in the vegetable and flower garden.

They take up very little space, and the whole plant can be eaten from top to bottom.

Welsh onion are cultivated both for their culinary uses and their ornamental value; the violet flowers are often used in ornamental dry bouquets.

Welsh onion are perennial evergreen plants, and keep their leaves in most winters.

In colder winters, the leaves may die back completely, but don't despair - their roots are still alive and they will begin new growth next spring.

How to grow Welsh onion - Crop rotation

Welsh onion is a member of the onion family, and it is suggested that it should not be planted in soil that has grown a family member in at least the last three years.

How to grow Welsh onion - Position and Soil

Welsh onion thrive in well drained soil, rich in organic matter, with a pH of 6-7 and full sun.

However, Welsh onion will grow in almost all soils.

Work in a handful or two of bonemeal per square metre (yard).

Full sun or partial shade suit them equally well.

Although they are fairly tolerant of drought, don't plant them in very dry places.

How to grow Welsh onion - Propagation

How to grow Welsh onion - Sowing seed

Welsh onion can be grown from seed and mature in summer, or early the following spring.

Sow the seeds indoors using normal potting compost in March time (or directly outside in April) .

Typically, Welsh onion need to be germinated at a temperature of 15°C to 20°C and kept moist.

The seedlings will appear a week to ten days later.

Transfer them outside a month after sowing with 10cm (8in) between each plant.

How to grow Welsh onion - Propagating by Division

Welsh onion are very similar to other onions, in that they have a bulbous root and green leaves.

The bulbs multiply quickly over a few years and this bounty of new bulbs provides the easiest method of propagation.

Simply dig up the clump of bulbs in March or October, carefully separate them into individual bulbs and replant with the tips of the bulbs level with the soil surface.

They thrive on this method of propagation, because it relieves the congestion in the bulb clumps.

How to grow Welsh onion - Care & Cultivation

Welsh onion are not greedy feeders, so it is not necessary to feed throughout the year if the soil has been prepared as described.

In cold regions, Welsh onion die back to the underground bulbs in winter, with the new leaves appearing in early spring.

Welsh onion starting to look old can be cut back to about 2–5 cm.

How to grow Welsh onion - Harvesting

Either lift the whole onion, as above, or just use the leaves.

Cut the chive leaves with scissors when required, starting with the outside leaves (those nearest the edge of the pot) and working your way inwards.

When harvesting, the needed number of stalks should be cut to the base.

The leaves rapidly grow back and can be cut several times in the growing season, so giving a continuous harvest.

Plants grown from seed should be left alone (although remove the emerging flower heads) until July in the first year to allow a good root system to establish itself.

How to grow Welsh onion - Kitchen Notes

Welsh onion should be used fresh and uncooked, otherwise they loose almost all their flavour.

When used with cooked foods, add them after cooking.

Welsh onion can be used to add flavour to a huge range of food, probably best known for adding to baked potatoes with butter.

Foods it goes well with include mixed vegetables, egg dishes, salads and dressings, broiled poultry, stews, casseroles and baked fish.

How to grow Welsh onion - Storage & Preserving

They can be dried, but their is little point because they then have no flavour.

One way to store them is to chop the leaves into 1cm (half inch) lengths and place them in ice cube containers with some water.

Freeze them, and then defrost an ice cube or two when need to use them.

How to grow Welsh onion - Pests and Disease

They are almost completely free of disease, but they occasionally suffer from onion fly, however this is almost always because they have been planted near onions which have been attacked - the solution is not to plant Welsh onion near onions.

If the pH (relative acidity or alkalinity) of your soil is not suited to the vegetable, then soil nutrients such as Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, iron, boron, copper, manganese and zinc start to become unavailable, leading to poor crops.

You can use a home soil test available in most garden centres to determine your soils ph. By taking account of the test results you can then decide how much if any amendments are required to bring the to pH of your vegetable garden soil in line.

The application of ground lime will be helpful in countering the acidity. Consult the pack for the application rates, as that varies between commercial products.

How to grow Broad Beans - Soil Preparation

For long term feeding of your crop, every 10m2 of growing area should have one wheelbarrow load of well-rotted homemade compost or farmyard animal manure spread over its surface sometime during the autumn/early winter before planting/sowing.

Dig this in to a spades depth all over the proposed growing area to enrich it for your crop.

Whilst digging, remove any stones and other obstacles that might obstruct roots.

As a rule of thumb, well-rotted manure/compost will be over six months old, and tend to be dark brown will little if any smell. You should not be able to distinguish individual pieces of straw, hay, vegetable peelings, grass etc., as it will all be rotted down.

A week or so before sowing the seed add a nitrogen feed to the soil. Although Broad Beans produce their own nitrogen in little nodules along the roots, this does not happen until the plants begin to grow strongly. So a little extra nitrogen at the beginning will get them off to a good start.

How to grow Broad Beans - Sowing Seed

Sowing broad bean seed directly in the soil

Broad beans are very frost hardy and will germinate in a soil temperature as low as 2°C (35°F).

Sowing time is around late March in England.

However if your soil is free draining they can also sow in early autumn when the weather is cooling down. This will give a crop about three weeks earlier than a spring sowing, but a winter-hardy variety must be used.

Dig out a drill in the soil to a depth of 6cm (2in) and 20cm (8in) wide.

Sow the seed in two rows, one row down one side of the drill, the other row down the other side.

Each bean in a row should be spaced 25cm (10in) apart from the next bean.

Close the drill with soil, then water well and label.

Create as many double rows as you like at 24in (60cm) intervals.

If you haven’t much space you can always sow single rows if you like, but the double rows do provide each other with support and also improve germination.

A helpful tip is to sow a few extra bean seeds at the end of some rows to be used as transplants if gaps appear.

Another tip to prevent gaps is to discard all seeds which display small, round holes, as these seldom germinate of if they do they produce weak plants. The small, round holes are created by seed beetle grubs

The expected seed germination time approx is 7-14 days.

Any seed not required for sowing that year should be kept dry as it has a life expectancy of 2 years.

Sowing broad bean seed indoors

The other alternative is to sow the seeds in peat pots and initially grow them in a greenhouse, polytunnel or on the windowsill until all danger of frost has passed.

Then plant them, peat pots and all, directly into the ground, using the same spacings as described above.

Remember to soak the peat pots in water prior to planting so that they will quickly break down in the soil.

Before planting out, ensure that the soil is warm, and this is best done by covering the growing site with a sheet of clear polythene at the same time as sowing the seeds in their pots.

Starting the plants into growth before the frosts have finished will provide a crop earlier than sowing direct outdoors.

How to grow Broad Beans - Care and Cultivation

Keep the soil around the broad bean plant weed-free. Take care when weeding because the roots are easily damaged.

During a prolonged spell without rain (week or more) you should water gently but deeply once a week. As a rough rule of thumb apply approx 10 litres per metre squared of soil area. Carry out this watering in the morning and try to avoid splashing the leaves, watering the soil instead. Water reserves must be adequate once the bean pods start to form, or else they may end up empty.

At about the sixth or seventh week after seed germination and while plants are growing strongly you can apply a second application of a well balanced fertilizer. Although not essential, a further scattering of Growmore or fish blood and bone can increase the vegetables vigour and make the less susceptible to plant ills. Once scattered the fertiliser should be lightly scratched into the soils surface followed by gentle but deep watering of the soil.

As soon as young beans appear at the base of the plant it's time to 'pinch out' the growing tips. Go to the very top of the plant and remove the tip with two leaves attached, you can compost these or steam them as a leaf vegetable.

Spacing shouldn't be compromised as good airflow is essential for combating fungal disease.

As the plants grow you will need to stake them to prevent the fragile stems from bending or breaking and pods being damaged.

Stake after the seedlings are up and use anything from pea sticks to bamboo with string to support the plant.

Dwarf varieties will need less space and less staking and are well worth considering especially on windy or small sites.

How to grow Broad Beans - Pests and Diseases

A bad attack of black aphids down the stem of a plant

Black bean aphids and green aphids are the main pests of broad beans.

They are mainly attracted to the soft and succulent tips of the shoots, but will eventually roam all over the plant sucking sap and stunting growth.

To discourage them simply pinch off the growing tip of each plant by one inch as soon as the first aphids are spotted. Reducing this attractiveness reduces the number of green and black bean aphids that show up. Any stragglers remaining can be sprayed with the following soapy water solution….

8ml of plain washing up liquid mixed into 1 litre of water.

Do not use detergent or any soap containing detergent as it will burn the plants and possibly leave a residue in the soil.

Apply liberally to the pest using a plant mister or spray bottle.

It is best to use a fresh soapy mix of this each time you spray.

How to grow Broad Beans - Harvesting

Pick broad beans for fresh use like snap beans when seeds are about the size of a pea.

Commonly broad beans are grown to maturity and used as shelled beans.

Time from spring planting to harvest is from 10 to 12 weeks.

Pods are ready for picking once they have reached about 15-20cm (6-8in) in length.

You can let them grow longer but realise the larger the pod the less palatable the swelled beans inside will be.

Once the shape of the beans starts to show through the pod then you can harvest.

To harvest the pods, give them a sharp twist in a downward direction away from the plant.

Check back and harvest every couple of days, as regular picking will force your plants to keep up production for about 6 weeks.

Pick from the bottom up when ripe and continue to harvest frequently.

Finger-thick beans can be eaten whole or wait until the pod bursts open to harvest the fully ripe beans inside.

When finished, cut off stems for compost and dig roots back into the soil to make use of captured nitrogen.

How to grow Broad Beans - Storage and Preservation

For short-term storage (one week), place unshelled beans in the salad crisper compartment of your refrigerator.

Broad beans are great for storing. You can dry or freeze the beans, when they will keep for twelve months.

To freeze, pick fresh, pod, place in a plastic bag and freeze.

To dry, pick, pod and lay out the beans in a dry place. Leave beans to completely dry and store in an air tight container. These can be sown next year or rehydrated for use in cooking.